Education And Psychology

By Jenna Somers Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez Many students from Spanish-speaking homes—whether designated as English learners or not—struggle with English language and reading comprehension, including students born and raised in the U.S. and who attend English-only-instruction schools. These students’ low scores on standardized English reading and language assessments are often associated… Read More

By Jenna Somers Hilary Travers Earlier this year, the U.S. and Tennessee Departments of Education awarded grants totaling more than $9.9 million to Hilary Travers, PhD’21, research assistant professor of special education, to support educational and post-school outcomes of students with disabilities in Tennessee. In April, Travers received… Read More

By Jane Sevier and Jenna Somers Meghan Burke Meghan Burke joined Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development in August as professor of special education. Her research interests include family advocacy, families of individuals with disabilities, and disability policy. She examines how families advocate for… Read More

By Jenna Somers James R. Booth A five-year, $3.9 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders will support novel research into the brain function of language development in 4- to- 8-year-old late talkers with language delay to identify predictive biomarkers that could support early… Read More

By Jenna Somers Autumn Kujawa A two-year, $1.45 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will support a study to test a novel therapeutic approach for preventing the emergence of anhedonia, a hallmark symptom of depression, in high-risk children. Autumn Kujawa, associate professor of psychology… Read More

Daphne Penn Sociologist of education Daphne Penn joined Vanderbilt University Peabody College of education and human development in July as assistant professor of education policy and inequality. Her research aims to understand and address the root causes of educational inequality by examining schools as microcosms of society. “In… Read More

By Jenna Somers Alyssa Wise Learning sciences, educational technology, and learning analytics researcher Alyssa Wise joined Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development this month as professor of technology and education in the Department of Teaching and Learning and is the new director of the… Read More

  Erin Henrick Erin Henrick has been named a Carnegie National Faculty member by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Henrick is a senior lecturer in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development. “Carnegie National Faculty… Read More

By Jenna Somers Krista Mehari Youth violence prevention researcher Krista Mehari joined Vanderbilt University Peabody College of education and human development in May as assistant professor of psychology and human development. As a community-based researcher, Mehari works with schools, police departments, local businesses, and organizations to understand… Read More

Despite the practice of exclusionary discipline in schools declining over the past decade, policy and program reforms intended to replace the practice largely have not benefited African American students, according to a new study from associate professor of education and public policy Richard Welsh recently published in Children and Youth Services Review. Read More

After the pandemic, teen mental health has plummeted. Learn the science behind disorders and brain development in the next Lab-to-Table Conversation on Aug. 10. Read More

Vanderbilt first-year students were among the top finalists in the global social innovation competition for their project-based research focused on educational support for children with chronic illnesses in Nashville. They competed among 1,000 teams from 60 global universities. Read More

Neuroscientist Mark Wallace is spearheading a research consortium focused on childhood multisensory perception development. The international team includes researchers from Yale University, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and Italian Institute of Technology. Read More

By Jenna Somers Lisa Fazio A study recently published in Psychological Science reveals that when people repeatedly encounter headlines about corporate wrongdoing, they view the wrongdoing as less unethical and are more likely to believe the headlines are true. Social media can cause scandalous news to go viral in… Read More

Kathryn Humphreys, associate professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt Peabody College, has won a 2023 Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences. Read More

By Jenna Somers Leaders of Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development traveled to Israel in June to further develop research collaborations and joint educational opportunities with Israeli academic and government partners and to present keynote addresses at academic conferences. Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean… Read More

Saylor began her appointment on July 1. She replaces Bethany Rittle-Johnson, Anita S. and Antonio M. Gotto Chair in Child Development and professor of psychology and human development, who led the department as chair from January 2019 to June 2023. Read More

by Jenna Somers Ellen Goldring Effective principals have been shown to improve teacher and student outcomes as well as the culture and climate of schools. Now a new study provides insights on how school districts can develop principal pipelines to ensure schools are staffed with effective leaders. Led… Read More

By Jenna Somers Autumn Kujawa A recent study published in Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology demonstrates that measures of brain function related to emotional processing in adolescents with depression could improve predictions of treatment outcomes in response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Adolescents whose electroencephalogram (EEG) scans… Read More

By Jenna Somers Kaylin Hill, Ph.D. Postdoctoral scholar Kaylin Hill has received a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Mental Health. The five-year grant exceeding $900,000 will support Hill’s research into the neurobehavioral pathway from depression in mothers and birthing parents to… Read More